International Business / The Pacific

Mitsubishi to Reduce Work Force: Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said it will trim its white-collar work force of 1,400 employees by about 10% over the next five years in a campaign to control costs. A spokesman for the major Japanese auto maker said the staff reduction will be accomplished through attrition rather than layoffs. As the flip side of an expansion of their overseas production, many Japanese auto makers, including Nissan Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Corp., are adopting strict plans to restructure operations. Mitsubishi’s cuts will affect the staff from its engineering section as well as its general administration and marketing sections. The spokesman declined to say how much the company will save by the move.